RRND Email Full Text (Scheduled)

THANK YOU to long-time subscribing contributor JR! His $25 in monthly contributions yesterday brings our annual fundraiser total to (as of 5am) $1,287!

Our goal is $5,503. Half of that is covered by a “matching funds” pledge from supporter GL — but we have to raise the first half from everyone else first, and we’re $1,464.50 short at the moment.

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Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous day!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily

Source: CBS News

“The United States, Ukraine and Russia have started talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday aimed at ending the war in Ukraine that began in 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of his country’s neighbor. The two-day session is the first such meeting since February and will focus on security guarantees, a long-running demand from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. … Ukraine argues that an immediate ceasefire is the necessary first step toward negotiating a wider settlement and says a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is the only way territorial issues can be settled.” (11/10/26)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-russia-ukraine-war-talks-peace-abu-dhabi-deal/

Source: Associated Press

“California voters have rejected a first-in-the-nation tax on the net worth of billionaires following a contentious ballot fight that generated huge spending by some prominent tech leaders eager to stop their taxes from going up. The measure’s failure is a win for Democratic leaders who opposed it, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, who may run for president in 2028. Critics of the tax, known as Proposition 40, said it would have prompted ultrawealthy taxpayers to leave the state. Most Californians vote by mail, and any ballot postmarked by Election Day that arrives within a week is counted, meaning it often takes days or even weeks for close races to be settled. The Associated Press determined Monday that ‘no’ had received enough votes to win.” (11/09/26)

https://apnews.com/article/california-billionaire-tax-4ae8cbdc057b99579818016f02ac9d9e

Source: Yahoo! News

“Israel’s new parliament will be sworn in Tuesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to lose his majority even as rival Gadi Eisenkot still works to form a new government. President Isaac Herzog will deliver a speech at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) for the swearing-in of the 120-seat parliament, in which neither Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc nor Eisenkot’s opposition will hold a majority. The opposition hopes to use its newfound legislative power to move quickly on key priorities, including a commission to investigate security failures under Netanyahu that allowed the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, the deadliest day in Israel’s history. Herzog on Sunday gave Eisenkot the initial mandate to form a government, starting the clock for him to cobble together a coalition within 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension.” (11/10/26)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/israel-parliament-sworn-eisenkot-seeks-091640633.html

Source: The Guardian

“Donald Trump has said that the war in Iran is ‘effectively over’ as he played down concerns that the US would escalate its military campaign against Tehran after the midterm elections. During a White House press conference, Trump said that Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and that an escalation was not needed. … ‘We’re seeing momentum toward the end of this conflict. I think it’s going to be ending fairly soon,’ he added. Trump has frequently exaggerated claims about the status of negotiations with Iran, saying a final peace deal was imminent dozens of times during the nearly nine-month long war.” (11/09/26)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/09/trump-iran-war

Source: New York Times

“Russell Brand, the comedian, actor and conspiracy-minded YouTuber, was sentenced on Monday to 10 and a half years in prison for the rape and sexual assaults that he was convicted of last week. The presiding judge, Joel Bennathan, said in a sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court in London that Mr. Brand, 51, was ‘a sexual predator’ with a ‘casual, arrogant disregard’ for women’s wishes. … The decision came four days after a jury found Mr. Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, in a trial in which six women testified about episodes that they said occurred between 2004 and 2009.” (11/09/26)

https://archive.is/POpI7

Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]

“Hungarian police took nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban’s brother into custody on Monday, according to a press report shared by Prime Minister Peter Magyar. Pro-EU conservative Magyar won a landslide election victory in April to end 16 years in power for Orban, promising to investigate alleged corruption and abuse of office during his rival’s rule. ‘According to press reports, Viktor Orban’s brother, Aron Orban, has been taken into custody on suspicion of human trafficking,’ Magyar wrote on social media. The original report comes from Kontroll, a news site owned by Magyar’s brother Marton Magyar.” (11/09/26)

https://archive.is/YvV5o

Source: United Press International

“More than 2 million people gathered Monday near the Monumento de los Españoles, a landmark along one of Buenos Aires’ main boulevards, to attend Pope Leo XIV’s first mass in Argentina, according to estimates from the Buenos Aires city government. The gathering was the largest of his papacy so far and marked a historic occasion after nearly 40 years without a papal visit to Argentina. … Before celebrating mass, Leo began the second day of his visit to Argentina at the Pequeño Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, a residential care facility for people with disabilities, where he stressed that a country’s dignity is measured by its commitment to inclusion, newspaper La Nacion reported.” (11/09/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/11/09/latam-argentina-pope-mass/8271794244018/

Source: CNBC

“Boeing said Monday that it plans to cut 5% of its commercial airplane workforce as its production ramp-up is moving at a slower pace than the company expected. The cuts will be through a combination of attrition and layoffs, Stephanie Pope, head of the commercial aircraft unit, said in a memo to staff. Pope reiterated that the company is still working to stabilize production rates of its best-selling 737 Max planes, which are made outside of Seattle. CEO Kelly Ortberg told investors last month that the company won’t significantly increase production of the Max aircraft until the second half of next year. He said the company’s wing production has been slower than expected.” (11/09/26)

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/09/boeing-layoffs-commercial-airplane.html

Source: France 24 [French state media]

“French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday he was bringing forward a planned hike in the minimum wage to December from January, as he sought to defuse a cost-of-living crisis that has sparked some of France’s worst civil unrest in years. … The hike falls short of union demands, with the CFDT, France’s largest union, calling for a €100 increase, while the left-wing CGT union is demanding a 10% rise, equivalent to around €150 a month.’ (11/09/26)

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20261109-french-pm-lecornu-announces-increase-minimum-wage-bid-to-calm-protests

Source: Common Dreams

“As severe floods ravage Gaza, Israel is continuing to block the entry of tents, repair materials, and mobile homes despite the aid provisions of the October 2025 ‘ceasefire’ agreement. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported Monday that more than 150,000 tents are ready to be sent to Gaza, where it said more vacuum trucks and mobile dewatering pumps were urgently needed. At least 70,000 tents were flooded in a single day this weekend. At least one infant reportedly drowned. A mother and her two children, along with three other children from the same family, were killed when a sandbank collapsed onto their tents. ‘Over the weekend, while families slept, water flooded their tents and engulfed entire camps,’ said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.” (11/09/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-floods-shelter-blocked-israel

Source: Seattle Times

‘Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co. must add warning labels to their weight-loss and diabetes drugs about a potential rare side effect that could permanently damage patients’ vision. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will now require GLP-1 drugs including Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic and Lilly’s Mounjaro, Zepbound and Foundayo to carry warnings that they may increase the risk of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION. The rare condition can cause decreased vision and potentially permanent vision loss.” (11/09/26)

https://archive.is/TWCWU

Source: SFGate

“A huge explosion and fire at an iron and steelworks in western Turkey left 16 people dead Monday, officials said. The fire at the HABAS plant in Aliaga, Izmir province, also injured 13 people, two of them critically, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address following a scheduled Cabinet meeting. ‘Judicial and administrative investigations have been launched into the explosion,’ Erdogan said. ‘The reasons and circumstances of this tragic event, which has deeply saddened our nation, as well as whose negligence was involved and who is responsible, will be revealed.’ Provincial Gov. Suleyman Elban said that a crane fell into a furnace as it was replacing a boiler, causing an explosion in a nearby steel mill. There were 200 workers in the vicinity instead of the usual 300 because production had been halted for the boiler switch, he said.” (11/09/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/explosion-at-steel-plant-in-western-turkey-leaves-22520456.php

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“A cruise ship pianist was found treading water around 20 miles (32km) off the Californian coast after falling overboard, according to US media reports. Two fishermen discovered the Royal Caribbean employee near Catalina Island on Friday and officials believe he may have been in the Pacific Ocean for nine hours, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner. ‘I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s a human being. Stop the boat; let’s get all of our lines in,’ Grant Garrett was quoted as saying, recalling the moment he and Sean Norton spotted him. The man, who has not yet been identified, was taken to hospital in a stable condition, the US Coast Guard told the BBC, adding it was investigating the incident. The fishermen say the man identified himself as a pianist on a 14-deck cruise ship called the Ovation of the Seas.” (11/09/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ck1wvrrgln13o

Source: CBS News

“Mexican police shot dead a 7-year-old American girl when they opened fire on her family’s vehicle from a helicopter during a drug enforcement operation, the state prosecutor confirmed Friday. Police captured a local criminal in Matamoros, which borders Brownsville, Texas, on October 29, triggering a series of street blockades by gunmen in the area. The Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s office said Friday that Aranza, a 7-year-old who was born in the United States, was hit in the head by police gunfire. The girl’s mother told Mexican media she was traveling with five children and her husband in a pickup truck when they noticed a police helicopter was following them. She said the family stopped the vehicle and her husband got out to say they were civilians with children but they were fired at anyway.” (11/09/26)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-girl-shot-dead-police-cartel-chase-mexico/

Source: SFGate

“The death toll from airstrikes that hit homes near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday has increased to 44, most of them women and children, Houthi health authorities said late Sunday. The strikes on the village of al-Shariya, east of Sanaa, wounded 40 others, including eight children and nine women, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run Health Ministry. The dead included 21 children and 10 women, he said, making the strikes one of the deadliest attacks in the latest bout of violence in Yemen’s yearlong civil war. Al-Asbahi said rescue teams were still searching the area for missing people, raising fears that the death toll could rise.” (11/09/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/houthi-rebels-say-at-least-44-killed-in-airstrike-22520434.php

Source: United Press International

“Iran on Sunday warned the United States to accept its proposal for ending the war and opening the Strait of Hormuz or risk renewed fighting. ‘Our 2-day proposal stands: meet the requirements, including end to war on all fronts, and you will see results. Or choose war, and see our alert and battle-hardened Warriors rain down hell,’ Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a social media statement. … Specifics of the proposal have not been entirely made public, but Araghchi said it would see the United States first meet several conditions on the first day of its implementation, including lifting sanctions, reducing its military presence in the region and unfreezing Iranian assets, while Tehran would, on the second day, reopen shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz.” (11/09/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/11/09/iran-US-proposal/9791794198770/

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“France has accused Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of being behind cyber-attacks that raised the temperatures of supermarket fridges and freezers. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the attack was ‘unprecedented in both its scale and its level of aggression’, adding those who were responsible would be hit with sanctions ‘at the European level’. Iran is yet to respond to Barrot’s allegations. The cyber-attack last month saw fridges and freezers in hundreds of supermarkets across France heated up, which spoilt fresh and frozen food estimated to be worth millions of euros. Then last week, dozens of supermarkets across several other European countries were also impacted by a cyber-attack that targeted fridges and freezers. It is not known if the instances are linked.” (11/09/26)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cmg474vk6dyqo

Source: New York Post

“Members of the city’s Democratic Socialists of America think their roster is too white — and are considering an ‘anti-oppression’ task force to recruit minorities and actual working-class New Yorkers. The New York City chapter of the uber-liberal group will consider a resolution stuffed with politically correct messaging at its convention on Saturday that would create ‘a Task Force to Promote Equitable Organizing Culture’ and force its leaders to get diversity training. ‘NYC-DSA aims to build the power of the socialist movement by growing our base among the multiracial, multigendered working class of our city’, the proposed resolution said. ‘DSA has historically faced well-documented challenges recruiting and retaining people of color, and NYC-DSA’s racial makeup does not reflect the racial diversity of our city’, the proposal added, also referring to the proposed group as an ‘anti-oppression’ task force.” (11/09/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/11/09/us-news/dsa-admits-its-too-white-as-it-mulls-anti-oppression-force/

Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]

“U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said he ‌was ‘only kidding’ when he suggested UFC CEO Dana White could become his next White House press secretary, after a social media post a ​day earlier stirred speculation about recruiting his ​feisty ally and signalled a combative approach to dealing with Democrats as they prepare to take ​control of Congress. Trump said White, a prominent supporter, ‘loves ⁠the idea’ of ⁠taking the job but ‌insisted he had not been serious about the prospect, describing the suggestion as ‘just a little fun.'” (11/08/26)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-dana-white-press-secretary-9.7414466

Source: The Daily Economy
by Jon Miltimore & Laura Williams

“Tariffs were supposed to rebuild American manufacturing and protect workers; mostly, they raised costs. Election results suggest protectionism’s costs have become a political liability.” (11/09/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/voters-hated-tariffs-here-are-the-receipts/

Source: The UnPopulist
by Tom G Palmer

“The most socialist administration in American history has been resoundingly repudiated by voters. The opposition won the House of Representatives in a landslide and is on track for roughly 255 to 260 seats to about 175 for Trump’s party—its largest House majority since 2008. In the Senate, the opposition holds at least 54 seats to 44 for Trump’s party, with two races in former ‘Trump country’ still uncalled: in Mississippi, its candidate holds a narrow lead, while Alaska’s contest remains too close to call. Lawlessness, socialist cronyism, corruption, tariffs, and war seem to have sucked the wind out of the MAGA sails.” (11/09/26)

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-make-socialism-great-again-president

Source: Washington Post
by LP O’Brien

“The holidays haven’t arrived yet, but many bars and restaurants are already testing recipes, calculating costs and placing bottle orders for what you’ll drink in December. That peppermint martini or cranberry cocktail takes time to reach the menu. Complicating the process this year: tariffs on countries that supply some of America’s favorite spirits. The latest is a ban on imports of certain Canadian whiskies, put in place by President Donald Trump to bring Canada back to the tariff negotiating table. As a longtime bartender and hospitality consultant, I hope the president’s negotiating gambit works. But I’m also worried about my colleagues in the hospitality industry, who need predictability to plan for the critical season ahead and are already facing tight margins as inflation curbs what customers are willing to spend.” (11/09/26)

https://archive.is/qvRVq

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Samuel J Abrams

“We spend an enormous amount of time arguing about free speech in America, especially on our college and university campuses. And too often, institutional leaders either stay silent or issue carefully worded statements that manage to say very little about how speech works in this country. … I think that too many forget that defending free expression does not require us to abandon judgment or pretend that every idea is equally worthy of respect. There is a difference between telling Americans what to think and reminding them why they are free to think for themselves.” (11/09/26)

https://www.fire.org/news/when-america-knew-what-it-was-defending

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

“I’ve long been fascinated by the reluctance of conservatives to condemn wrongdoing by the U.S. government, especially since the time that the U.S. government was converted to a national-security state after World War II. The primary reason for this phenomenon, it seems to me, is that conservatives have come to view the federal government as a god, one that works in partnership with their religious God. In the conservative mind, it’s okay to carp about minor mistakes that their national-security god makes but it’s never okay to challenge or question it at a fundamental level. A good example of this conservative mindset is the decades-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba and, more recently, the oil restrictions that the U.S. government has imposed against Cuba.” (11/09/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/11/09/conservative-obtuseness-on-cuba/

Source: Town Hall
by Mark Lewis

“Democrat Party implosion isn’t an impossibility. The Democrats are not united, not by any stretch of the imagination, and their divisions are serious, for reasons I shall explain. And they are already having disagreements. A couple of headlines I saw Friday: From the ‘Beaufort Observer’: ‘Far Left Moving to Deny Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker Job, Put in Someone Farther Left’. And this one from Breitbart: ‘Mark Ruffalo Pushes Petition Urging House Democrats to Reject Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker: ‘Simply Not the Right Choice’’. In other words, the Menshevik Jeffries is not communist enough for the Bolshevik Ruffalo and his Leninist communist comrades. There are no ‘moderate’ Democrats anymore, folks; that animal went extinct with the dodo bird.” (11/09/26)

https://townhall.com/columnists/marklewis/2026/11/09/will-the-democrats-implode-n2686112

Source: Reason
by JD Tuccille

“There are lessons to take from last week’s blue tidal wave which swept Republicans from power in Congress and across much of the country, just as there were from the 2024 ejection of Democrats from office. Among other things, party turnover underlines the futility of relying on government to maintain predictable conditions and to protect cherished liberties. The midterm elections may have been primarily a rejection of corruption and ineptitude among GOP officials, but they also empowered Democrats to enact an agenda in many places wildly at odds with what prevailed before.” (11/09/26)

https://reason.com/2026/11/09/the-wild-turnover-of-the-midterms-shows-that-living-life-requires-ignoring-government/

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Jason Montgomery

“There is no such thing as ‘America/the US,’ ‘Israel,’ ‘Iran,’ ‘society,’ or ‘the public.’ There is no “general welfare,” and a nation does not, and cannot, have debt. Such claims indicate the linguistic/ideological/psychological disorder of collectivism: conceptualizing and interacting with human beings in terms of groups rather than as individuals.” (11/09/26)

https://mises.org/power-market/collectivism-infectious-lie-youre-probably-telling

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee claims that anyone who opposes Trump’s war with Iran is being blinded by Satan. Like, the actual, literal devil character from the Bible. During an incredibly sycophantic recent interview on The Anchor Podcast, Huckabee was asked by the host if he believed European opposition to the US war on Iran was the result of mental problems. ‘I think it’s a spiritual issue,’ Huckabee replied. ‘I know it sounds a little funny for an ambassador to be talking like this, but look, I see this as spiritual darkness, spiritual blindness,’ adding that ‘Satan has blinded the minds of those and has captured their thinking.'” (11/09/26)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2026/11/09/trump-official-claims-those-who-oppose-iran-war-are-blinded-by-satan-and-other-notes/

Source: Persuasion
by Damon Linker

“Far from signaling the conclusion of the Trump era, the midterm elections of 2026 now look likely to be viewed as the moment when the country began to confront an even more intense challenge to liberal democratic principles from the hardline xenophobic right than the one we’ve already been enduring for much of the past 10 years.” (11/09/26)

https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-true-believer

Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Madsen Pirie

“Work is how most people create value. Tax it heavily and you get less of it. Income tax and National Insurance together make each extra hour less worth working, each promotion less worth seeking and each second job less worth taking. Some earners face effective marginal rates of 60 per cent as allowances are clawed back. Nobody designed that deliberately. It simply accumulated, like barnacles on a hull, slowing the ship a little more each year. A country that wants growth should want people to work, earn and advance. Taxing effort is a strange way to show it.” (11/09/26)

https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/the-taxes-that-tax-the-future

Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley

“In Henry VI, Shakespeare wrote, ‘Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends’. Many today would like to chisel those words above the doors to the Supreme Court. Time and time again, justices waited too long for their own legacies. For many conservatives, the loss of both houses of Congress has created a true nightmare scenario in which two conservatives (Justice Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito) could hand Democrats the opportunity to take control of the Court without having to carry out their court-packing schemes. Control of the Court could now be lost by sheer attrition. Timing has always been a looming question for justices who want to see their seats filled by like-minded jurists. However, it is difficult to walk away from being one of nine.” (11/09/26)

https://jonathanturley.org/2026/11/09/the-reverse-ginsburg-scenario-democrats-may-only-need-to-wait-rather-than-pack-the-court/

Source: Liberalism.org
by Rainer Heufers

“The fall of the Berlin Wall belongs to history, but its lessons do not. Across many countries today, including established democracies such as the United States, we see political forces challenging constitutional constraints, weakening independent institutions, concentrating executive power, or treating political opponents as enemies rather than legitimate competitors. Elsewhere, authoritarian governments have become more confident in suppressing dissent and restricting individual freedom. The forms differ, but the question confronting citizens remains familiar: what do we do when those in power gradually erode the institutions that protect our freedom?” (11/09/26)

https://liberalism.org/essays/lessons-from-the-berlin-wall

Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey

“Monopolies consistently deliver poor service and high costs. A government monopoly operates with even less efficiency than a corporate one needing happy customers to flourish. Government solutions fail because they rely on coercion and ‘no choice’ rather than voluntary exchange. The free market forces providers to earn customer loyalty. Government programs trap citizens in a system with no exit. When the government controls healthcare, patients lose their bargaining power and thereby their choices.” (11/09/26)

https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/facts-free-market-competition-fixes

Source: Our Future
by Sulma Arias

“I am glad that voters in Kansas, my home state, helped give Trump his final rebuke in the midterm elections. After all, Kansas was home to a girl named Dorothy, who pulled back a curtain to reveal that the Great Wizard who claimed only he could solve the world’s problems was nothing but a fraud. Dorothy is the hero of L. Frank Baum’s classic novel, ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Written in 1900, this beloved children’s story is also considered a parable about the injustices faced by working people during the Gilded Age. Swept away from her home by a storm, Dorothy believes only the Great Wizard has the power to help her. Then, when she visits his castle, she discovers that all along he was lying – and that she had the power to make her own way home.” (11/08/26)

https://ourfuture.org/20261108/voters-pull-back-the-curtain-on-trumps-lies

Source: The Dispatch
by Nick Pompella

“People want to understand how the Columbine shooters, or Adam Lanza of Sandy Hook, or Payton Gendron of Buffalo—who murdered 10 black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York on May 14, 2022—could do something so terrible to their fellow human beings. We seek and we find unsatisfactory answers. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were goths, were Mansonites, were bullied at school. Adam Lanza was autistic and had OCD. Or, in Payton Gendron’s case, we get the least helpful answer of all: He was ‘radicalized online.'” (11/09/26)

https://thedispatch.com/article/payton-gendron-mass-shooters-buffalo-internet/

Source: The Daily Economy
by Vincent Geloso

“Many complaints about immigration are really byproducts of state interventions elsewhere in the economy, preventing markets from responding to new arrivals.” (11/09/26)

https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/when-immigration-meets-an-economy-that-cant-adapt/

Source: Underthrow
by Max Borders

“Working with family carries risks, but so does betting on the empty promises of higher education.” (11/09/26)

https://underthrow.substack.com/p/when-nepotism-beats-college

Source: Law & Liberty
by Max Skjönsberg

“Nineteenth-century Ireland blended sectarian strife with sophisticated debate about representative government.” (11/09/26)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-irish-question-after-burke/

Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Hope Schumaker

“For all its novelty, the technology industry is not immune to the laws of economics. The principles of competition and the rules of supply and demand still apply, even to the most cutting-edge devices. Efforts to manipulate the market through bureaucratic regulation threaten to stifle both innovation from businesses and the consumer experience. Recent developments in the world of broadband internet offer a case study in the power of competition. Internet access is becoming more affordable because competition between different methods of home internet services are driving down prices.” (11/09/26)

https://fee.org/articles/a-case-study-in-competition/

Source: Fox News Forum
by Howard Kurtz

“When Donald Trump made the stunning announcement that Stephen Miller is his new chief of staff–preempting the New York Times by a few minutes–I literally said: ‘”Watch for a barrage of negative Miller stories in the next couple of days.’ I was wrong. It was the next couple of hours. MS NOW anchor Katy Tur said: ‘Donald Trump’s whole immigration agenda is Stephen Miller, and for Stephen Miller, it has always been absolutist: do whatever is necessary, as much as we can possibly do, be as cruel as possible as a warning sign for anybody who might want to come over.’ ‘Stephen Miller, one of his most notorious staffers, will instead be taking over as chief of staff,’ CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins … called him a domestic terrorist.'” [editor’s note: “Domestic terrorist” is about the gentlest accurate descriptor I’ve heard – TLK] (11/09/26)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/stoning-stephen-miller-now-running-trump-white-house

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter

“Ten weeks ago, Donald Trump called Marjorie Taylor Greene, his former ally and a former Georgia Republican congresswoman, a ‘LOSER.’ Greene shot back that Trump was a ‘neocon puppet for Israel.’ Both of them do this a lot these days. Last week, it was Republicans who were big losers in the midterm elections. The president might have been the biggest loser of them all. Greene knew why.” (11/09/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/majorie-taylor-greene-trump-elections/

Source: American Greatness
by Stephen Soukup

“The 2014 Australian psychological horror movie ‘The Babadook’ is generally well known for a handful of things. … Mostly, however, it is known as the source of a once-ubiquitous internet meme. Long story short: ‘The main character of the film is a mother of a young boy with social difficulties who believes The Babadook, a character from a terrifying children’s book they read together, is real.’ In one particularly distressing scene, the mother (Amelia) is exasperated, driving her son (Samuel), who is screaming and generally freaking out in the back seat. Amelia, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, turns to Samuel and yells, ‘Why can’t you just be normal?!’ at which point he starts to scream louder and more violently.” (11/09/26)

https://amgreatness.com/2026/11/09/the-babadook-electorate/

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Thomas Karat

“Sometime this weekend, perhaps late at night, you may have typed a question into the assistant that now lives inside Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. It might have been about a loan you cannot cover, or a parent whose health is slipping. Since December 16, 2025, Meta has used those exchanges to choose the posts and ads you see. The company’s own example was gentle: chat with its assistant about hiking, and offers for hiking boots may follow. Reporting at the time found no opt-out short of staying away from the assistant altogether.” (11/09/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/your-data-your-money-and-you

Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker

“Predictably, Donald Trump blamed Thursday’s market tumble on the Democrats, or more accurately, ‘Dumocrats.’ As I’ve written for three decades, deflating a bubble is good news. If stock prices don’t reflect fundamental values, then we should want to see them fall. Otherwise, we are getting a misallocation of resources.” (11/09/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/11/09/a-quick-note-on-market-crashes/

Source: The American Conservative
by Peter Van Buren

“I hope the Democrats understand what the results of the midterms really mean. They didn’t just win Congress in a landslide. They landed a two-year job interview with the American people, with the presidency in 2028 as the real prize if they do well, a chance to prove in hard policy terms they should be handed the White House. Or they could squander it beating up on the lame-duck President Donald Trump.” (11/09/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/will-democrats-squander-their-midterms-mandate/

Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin

“Now that Democrats have swept the House, a key question is: Who should lead it? Hakeem Jeffries is in line to become the first Black Speaker of the House, which would be a historic milestone. But members of Congress must examine Jeffries’ record, his priorities, and the kind of leadership he would bring to this moment. Here are ten reasons why Jeffries should not be Speaker: 1.) He has abandoned Medicare for All – At a time when millions of Americans struggle with unaffordable health insurance, medical debt, and the threat of financial ruin from illness, Jeffries has distanced himself from one of the most important progressive reforms … 2.) He refuses to break with Israel – Perhaps nowhere is Jeffries more out of step with the progressive base than on Israel. … 3.) He has failed to champion major cuts to the obscene Pentagon budget …” (11/09/26)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/why-hakeem-jeffries-should-not-be-speaker

Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson

“After the Bourbons were restored to the French throne, Talleyrand is credited with saying they had learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The family had been driven from power, watched a king lose his head, and spent a quarter century in exile, yet it came back to Paris determined to govern exactly as it had before the deluge. Within fifteen years, the senior Bourbon line was gone again, this time for good. Much the same could be said of the Trump Administration one week after the midterms. … President Trump’s response has been to push out the person rumored to want a change and promote the person most responsible for what voters rejected.” (11/09/26)

https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/learning-and-forgetting-nothing

Source: Washington Monthly
by Colin Woodard

“The American Nations map, which charts our settler history, reveals the deep legacies disrupted by last week’s Democratic victories.” (11/09/26)

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/11/09/in-the-deep-south-the-red-wall-and-history-collapses/

Source: Law & Liberty
by Ronald W Dworkin

“Activists cosplay as revolutionaries while clutching desperately for legal restraints.” (11/09/26)

https://lawliberty.org/the-childlike-innocence-of-the-american-protester/

Source: Liberal Currents
by Holly Berkley Fletcher

“Those writing obituaries for Christian nationalism need to hold off.” (11/09/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-evangelical-vote-will-return-in-2028/

Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin

“Outgoing GOP Representative Thomas Massie is planning to introduce an impeachment resolution against Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Soon-to-be Democratic Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries says he’s a ‘hard yes’ on the idea. That makes it very likely it will happen. If not now, then when Democrats take control of Congress in January, after their big win in the midterm election. Hegseth richly deserves it, and should be convicted on at least two major charges: his role in starting an unconstitutional war and over 200 cases of outright murder.” (11/08/26)

https://reason.com/volokh/2026/11/08/impeach-pete-hegseth/

Source: New York Post
by staff

“Watch out: Democrats’ big ideas for ‘saving’ Social Security — now set to go bust in 2032 — range from lunacy like boosting payouts to madness like job-killing tax hikes. The program’s trust fund empties out in just six years, forcing automatic 22% cuts in payments, yet the Democrats who just won control of Congress look to worsen the outlook, throwing the system’s finances even further out of whack. … The shortfall is now covered by the funds’ reserves; when they dry up, payouts automatically shrink about a fifth. Cue Democratic plans to jack up taxes (and not just on the rich!) to pull in more cash.” [editor’s note: And once again they ignore the idea of putting a “floor” on FICA, instead of just raising the ceiling – SAT] (11/08/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/11/08/opinion/democrats-disastrous-ideas-to-fix-social-security/

Source: Asia Times
by Leon Hadar

“In the classic Fawlty Towers episode, Basil Fawlty, hotel proprietor and concussed anglophile, spends an evening ordering his staff not to mention the war in front of his German guests, and then mentions it in every other sentence. Watching the Republican Party’s 2026 campaign, I kept thinking of Basil. For eight months, the White House, the party’s campaign committees and their friends in the conservative media worked hard at not mentioning the war with Iran. The voters, it turns out, mentioned it for them.” (11/09/26)

https://asiatimes.com/2026/11/dont-mention-the-war-how-iran-broke-trumps-winning-coalition/

Source: Washington Sun
by Paige Winfield Cunningham

“Earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed destined for a short tenure in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. Now, the Make America Healthy Again movement’s footing looks surer in the administration and those around Kennedy say they believe the health secretary is here to stay. Incoming White House chief of staff Stephen Miller is friendlier to Kennedy’s priorities than ousted chief Susie Wiles, who former Kennedy advisor and MAHA activist Calley Means excoriated over the last few days for shutting down MAHA initiatives. Trump is enthusiastically backing top Kennedy efforts into researching autism and vaccines.” (11/08/26)

https://archive.is/Td379

Source: Reason

“Thomas Massie Is Right To Impeach Pete Hegseth.” (11/09/26)

https://reason.com/podcast/2026/11/09/thomas-massie-is-right-to-impeach-pete-hegseth/

Source: EconTalk

“Hubris, Humility, and the AI Revolution (with Walter Isaacson).” (11/09/26)

https://www.econtalk.org/hubris-humility-and-the-ai-revolution-with-walter-isaacson/

Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report

“Hegseth’s Last Ride?” (11/09/26)

https://x.com/RonPaul/status/2119837483252719811

Source: The Hill

“Robby Soave gives his radar on Rep. Hakeem Jeffries firing back at those on the left who are calling for him to be ousted as House leader.” (11/09/26)

https://thehill.com/hilltv/6201664-rising-november-9-2026/

Source: Notes from the Middleground

“A recording from Damon Linker and Persuasion’s live video.” (11/09/26)

https://damonlinker.substack.com/p/ask-the-author-francis-fukuyama-and

Source: The Scott Horton Show

“Trita Parsi returns to the show to discuss what will likely happen next after voters made their opposition to Trump’s war clear in the midterm elections. Scott and Parsi dig into the dynamics within the Trump administration and talk about how Israel’s election also affects things.” (11/09/26)

https://scotthorton.org/interviews/11-5-26-trita-parsi-on-what-happens-to-the-iran-war-after-voters-rejected-it/

Source: The New Republic

“Angry Trump Unravels as GOPers Openly Admit He Wrecked Their 2028 Map.” (11/09/26)

https://newrepublic.com/article/217735/angry-trump-unravels-gopers-openly-admit-wrecked-2028-map

Source: The Bulwark

“Trump’s Interview Sends MAGA Into a Full-Blown Meltdown.” (11/09/26)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLenUX2E_SY

Source: The Dispatch

“With Jonah Goldberg sleeping off his election-night hangover, Dispatch in-house grumbler Kevin Williamson takes the helm for today’s conversation with author Jeanna Smialek. The pair discuss Jeanna’s new book about the novelist and cover economist Maria Edgeworth, digging into political economy, Adam Smith, moral novels, women’s education, Harriet Martineau, early feminism, utilitarianism, value theory, Ireland, Little House on the Prairie, and the Great Potato Famine.” (11/09/26)

https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/how-to-teach-the-kids-division-of-labor-interview-jeanna-smialek/

Source: Noahpinion

“Noah, Brad DeLong, and Dan Wang discuss the Anthropic IPO.” (11/09/26)

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/noah-brad-delong-and-dan-wang-discuss

Source: Free Talk Live

“Dave Ridley calls about NH vote on ‘tax cap’ :: Police in MS shoot and kill a baby, court ruled ‘justified’ :: Skeeter calls to act like a child :: Sarah in NM calls about new speeding cameras :: Caller insists IP is valuable :: Turd also likes IP :: voting systems are dumb :: people released from Aurora immigration detention center immediately re-arrested :: 2026-11-08 :: Hosts: Stu, Rich E. Rich, Riley O’Bill.” (11/08/26)

https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-11-08

Source: The Atlantic

“Can Beauty Make Us Good?” (11/08/26)

https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/11/can-beauty-make-us-good/689302

Source: Liberal Currents

“Samantha Hancox-Li chats with Andy Craig, senior editor at the UnPopulist, about the most revealing results from the election, including Mississippi and Texas, what it means for the future of the Republican Party (nothing good), and how corruption can unite ‘affordability’ Democrats and ‘Reconstruction’ Democrats.” (11/08/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/trumps-epic-defeat-neon-liberalism-98-with-andy-craig/

Source: Libertarian Institute

“They Still Hate You!!” (11/08/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/blog/they-still-hate-you/

Source: Antiwar.com

“US Expands Iran Blockade, Continues Strikes on Qeshm, Saudis Massacre Yemeni Civilians, and More.” (11/08/26)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDQbjkewQUM

Source: Unattended Baggage

“Bye-Bye Fascists, Hello Commies.” (11/07/26)

https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-362-bye-bye-fascists-hello

Source: Free Talk Live

“Sarah says New Mexico voted to way overpay their state reps :: Sarah said she paid into the system enough the one year in her life that she worked a job :: Tim from FL calls in with questions for Skeeter :: Dan O’Neil calls in from the Exit and Build conference in Texas to promote parallel systems :: Sterling Lujan tells us about living in a Pop Up City in Austria :: What made R’s turn their backs on MAGA? :: Are hackers attacking the US food supply like in Europe? :: 2026-11-07 :: Hosts: Bonnie, Colin, Angelo.” (11/07/26)

https://soundcloud.com/freetalklive/ftl2026-11-07

Source: Pink Flame of Liberty

“Ponty’s Reporting on LNC Data Beach: Did Andy Buchovitch SCAPEGOAT Mises Caucus opponents?” (11/07/260

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjhmS4H2oZg

Source: The Weekly Dish

“Michael Barone On The Midterm Results.” (11/06/26)

https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/michael-barone-on-the-midterm-results

Source: The Hill

“Lindsey Granger gives her lens on Jon Stewart suggesting that Sen. Chuck Schumer should not be the Senate majority leader now that Democrats have control of the Senate.” (11/06/26)

https://thehill.com/hilltv/6184177-rising-november-6-2026/